From struggling season to potential Olympic medallists, SA Sevens turned their season around in one evening

Akuila Rokolisoa of Team New Zealand passes the ball as Shaun Williams of Team South Africa looks on during the Men's Rugby Sevens quarter-final between New Zealand and South Africa on 25 July 2024 in Paris. (Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

26 Jul 2024

The SA Sevens team last made the last four of a Sevens World Series leg in December last year – there have been seven legs since. But on the biggest stage, they have shone brightest.

The Springbok Sevens endured two of their worst seasons in sevens history. But one more victory at the Olympics, and the pain of the past two seasons will quickly be eased.

South Africa finished seventh overall in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Before that, the team’s worst showing was a sixth place finish in the 2009/10 season, otherwise they never finished outside of the top five since 1999.

There are a few reasons for the side’s struggles, most notably extensive budget cuts, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was also a change in leadership, after Sandile Ngcobo’s short stint in charge was cut short by himself in the middle of the season.

Among the struggles in that time was failure to qualify for the Olympics directly, either through the final season placings last season, or through the Continental tournament, where they lost to Kenya in the final.

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There was at least some sort of stability in the leadership structure, with assistant coach Philip Snyman taking over the reigns.

But South Africa’s fortunes didn’t improve immediately, as their struggles in the world series continued.

South Africa was the last of the 12 teams to qualify for the Olympic Games after winning a repechage tournament in Monaco six weeks out of the Games in Paris.

Their time in Paris was initially stifled by familiar losses as they succumbed to New Zealand (17-5) and Ireland (10-5) on the opening day.

Tiaan Pretorius of South Africa in action during the Men's quarter final against New Zealand in the Rugby Sevens in Paris 2024 Olympics, at Stade de France on 25 July 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON)

Season u-turn

But the SA Sevens’ season u-turned within 24 hours. The qualification process allows eight of the 12 teams to progress to the quarterfinals, and South Africa more than made use of the window of opportunity.

They crushed Japan 49-5 in their final group game to qualify for the quarterfinals.

And last night the Sevens side produced an all-time defensive display to overcome New Zealand 14-7 in the quarterfinals and book their place in Saturday’s semi-final.

Read more: SA Sevens stun New Zealand with heroic defensive display to make it to Olympic semifinals

“It all started [yesterday] morning, the chips were down,” Snyman said after his team’s quarterfinal win. “We had some hard talks inside the circle but the guys managed to turn it around.

“We didn’t play that badly on day one, our defence was really good in stages but without the ball you can’t play this game.

“We had to [beat Japan] by quite some margin but the guys really came out and put [the previous day] behind them and they came out firing.

“I don’t have any words to describe how proud I am of these guys in the last game against New Zealand.”

‘Time to start believing’

South Africa didn’t play poorly on day one against New Zealand and Ireland. In fact they were in the contest throughout.

Their brave defence allowed the matches to be tight but on attack the side had very little to work with because of how little possession they had.

It was a similar story in the quarterfinal against New Zealand, but South Africa’s defence turned into a brick wall in the second half while the attack was clinical with the few opportunities they had.

“I said before the game, when the guys qualified for the quarterfinal, it’s time to start believing,” Snyman said.

“Day one wasn’t perfect, but they really came out [yesterday].

“Our defence was really good but we couldn’t get [our hands] on the ball.

“[Last] night the defence system worked really well and when we had the ball in hand we capitalised and we even left one or two tries out there and it still wasn’t perfect.

“Just the way the guys fought for the system, fought for the jersey and fought for the whole of South Africa, I’m really proud of them and they deserve to be in the semi-finals,” he added.

“There’s still plenty of mistakes. We’re happy with the win, but we’ll have a look at our mistakes and ensure we’ll be even better when it comes to the semi-finals.”

Hostile environment

The South African side were not welcomed onto the pitch against New Zealand in a friendly manner by the 69,000 strong crowd in the Stade de France as boos rang out.

The venue is, of course, where South Africa snuck past France 29-28 in the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup last year.

Star French rugby star Antoine Dupont has switched codes to help the home nation win their first Olympic medal in Sevens rugby.

Dupont was a vital member of the French 15s side at the Rugby World Cup, and will be looking to exact revenge on the South Africans.

The atmosphere in Stade de France will be hostile again in the semi-final meeting on Saturday, as it was when World Series winners Argentina were surprisingly thwarted 26-14 by the hosts in their quarterfinal clash.

The narratives are written for both teams to make history.

South Africa’s season, in comparison to any other, has been dreadful, but another otherworldly display against France in the semi-finals, and all the group stage exits on the World Series will quickly be forgotten. DM

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South Africa

Season u-turn

‘Time to start believing’

Hostile environment